Our Under-18s’ first-ever meeting with Burnley yielded a 2-1 victory on Saturday as we kept our destiny in the Under-18 Premier League Cup in our own hands.
In a gritty affair at the Clarets’ Barnfield Training Centre, we took the lead just before half-time when Oliver Boast capitalised on a mistake at the back to score from a tight angle, with Reiss Elliott-Parris winning and converting a penalty in the second period to put us firmly in the driving seat.
Burnley’s Braidin Derbyshire pulled one back with a penalty kick of his own five minutes from time, but we saw the game out to move onto four points in Group H, knowing victory at home to Derby County on matchday three next Saturday will be enough to send us through to the knockout stages.
The first half brought few real chances as both sides got to grips with a clash of styles amid windy weather conditions in Lancashire – rain wasn’t a factor despite the overnight storms across the country – but as we approached the interval we began to find openings in attack. Tynan Thompson, playing his first Under-18s game of the season after featuring largely for the Under-21s so far, cut in from the left and saw his right-footed drive deflected across to Jamel Beggs, whose volley down into the ground looped over goalkeeper Connor Edwards and grazed the crossbar on its way over on 37 minutes, with Thompson himself going close five minutes later, firing just wide of the far post after being picked out on the break by Tye Hall.
Just afterwards, though, with two minutes of the half remaining, we took the lead as Boast was alert to steal possession among the Burnley defence before rounding the stranded Edwards and rolling the ball home from a very tight angle on the right.
The hosts started the second half on the front foot and squandered a chance to equalise when Derbyshire somehow turned the ball over the crossbar from point-blank range, while substitute James Lewis made a difference in attack for them as they tried to find a way back into the game.
At the other end, Tye Hall’s free-kick was tipped over while Tyley Tingey almost connected with another set-piece from the impressive Harry Byrne, but with 15 minutes to go we finally grabbed a crucial second goal as Elliott-Parris – always a willing runner through the middle – was brought down by Edwards as he latched onto a forward pass from Byrne and got back up to convert the resulting penalty.
Our goalkeeper Dylan Thompson made a great save to deny Brandon Siewe just afterwards, but Burnley found a lifeline on 85 minutes when our birthday boy Solomon Olajide, who had played some excellent forward passes from centre-half in the moments beforehand, was harshly penalised for his challenge on Derbyshire in our box and the Clarets’ number seven duly converted from 12 yards. Thankfully, though, we were able to maintain our concentration and composure, keeping the game under control to ensure we ran out with maximum points.
‘They presented us with a big challenge’
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Interim Under-18s Coach Joe Staunton was pleased with the way the players handled the tie, telling us afterwards: “It’s obviously a tricky place to come and play in a cup competition, so to come away with the win and tee up an opportunity to try and get through the group next week against Derby is a pleasing outcome.
“The clash of styles is always a challenge. It was a gritty game with bits of quality on show, they presented us with a big challenge in terms of their aggression and their willingness to come after the ball and compete, so we managed to deal with that and to score the two goals gave us the best opportunity to come away with the points.
“We felt there was potentially a goal coming in the first half and we probably would have preferred the first half to have gone on a little bit longer, but to score so late in that period set us up with a good opportunity to go into the second half and try to build a bit of momentum like we had in the last 20 minutes of the first. We spoke before the game about taking a bit of ownership in terms of where we are in the group and teeing up the game against Derby, knowing that a win would be enough to see us qualify for the knockout stages, so we’re pleased with the outcome today.”